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S P O R T S

Wrap-up on Super Bowl and model wife’s post-game comments

S

uperb Bowl — Yes it was. New
York Giants 21, New England
Patriots 17. The tightly contested
NFL championship game was a
classic. Tom Brady's Hail Mary
heave into the end zone as time expired
went for naught as tight end Rob
Gronkowski fruitlessly dove for the batted
ball as it touched down harmlessly onto
the ground. Brady and the Patriots'
offense were trying to rescue their
defense from blame as the Giants drove
88 yards and hit paydirt with less than a
minute left. Up to that last New York
drive the New England “D” had been one
of the stars of the game. They had held
the Giants offense in check for most of the
day — and odds were that they could
blunt a final NY drive as the Giants started from their own 12 yard line for that
game-winning drive. But New York quarterback Eli Manning trumped NE and
coach Bill Belichick’s defensive schemes
once more for their second title in five

Y O U R

years. Wow,
Manning was terrific
down the stretch!
His perfectly placed
throw to Mario
Manningham down
the left sideline was
true as could be and
Manningham made a
tremendous catch
and unbelievable
effort to get two feet
down before being
leveled by two
Patriot defenders.
Eli looked like a cool
assassin as he deftly
Sports columnist
picked apart a New
England secondary
which had played so well up until that
point. The game was a defensive chess
match, yet the New York offense, on that
last drive, instituted the checkmate. There
were several Patriot gaffes which become

MICHAEL
ELLIOTT

glaring upon further review. Brady tossing the ball to no apparent receiver on
New England’s first offensive play of the
game and being assessed a penalty and
subsequent safety was a rather foreboding
tale. As New York began their final drive
they were down by only two points. A field
goal could win the game. If that critical
safety had not occurred perhaps the
deficit would have been four points, thereby taking the field goal out of the equation
and meaning that the G-Men would have
to put the ball into the end zone to take
the lead. Later in the first half the Pats
defense stripped the Giants of the ball and
recovered in Giants' territory, only to have
the recovery negated by the defense having 12 players on the field. Ouch! And
perhaps the most painful play of the game
for the Patriot faithful came with about
five minutes remaining in the game as
New England was driving for a gameclinching touchdown. Inside Giants' territory once again, wide receiver Wes

Y O U R

V O I C E

Welker found a seam in the New York
secondary and was open enough for Brady
to get a really good look at him. The 25
yard pass was thrown a bit behind
Welker. As the NFL's leading receiver
turned 90 degrees to his right he got his
mitts on the ball, but alas could not come
up with the catch — a catch he makes
probably 90 percent of the time. In all
likelihood, if Welker makes that catch the
Patriots are hoisting the Lombardi trophy.
But all credit is due to the New York
Giants’ organization. They faced four
actual elimination games in a row (three
of them on the road!) in order to just get
to the big game. Coach Tom Coughlin
adroitly summoned his men into battle
each and every time — and kept them
poised under severe duress as each of
those four games, and the Super Bowl
game, presented monumental challenges.
New York, New York indeed. Even if their
home stadium is in New Jersey!
Not-So-Model model — What was she

V O I C E

Project Linus seeks volunteers
for blanket charity event

Tim Terrio to chair
Bakersﬁeld Chamber

BY MICHELE WILLIS
Community contributor

BY MICHELE WILLIS
Community contributor

T

he Greater Bakersfield
Chamber of Commerce has
an amazing history of providing leadership to ensure
a healthy business community. Over the years, the vision of
the Chamber has thrived to be the
authoritative voice for a diverse
and changing business environment. Other than the Great
Depression, I can think of no
other time in American History
where we have seen a greater
change in the business landscape.
We also find ourselves fully
immersed in the information age
trying to decipher reality from
illusion. In times of great change
and with the need for accurate
information, it is vital to have an
advocate who can be the authoritative voice for local businesses.
With that said, I believe the
Greater Bakersfield Chamber of
Commerce is ready to not only fill
this role but meet the challenge.
Like a lot of people, I initially
joined the Chamber of Commerce
for some networking opportunities for my newly started company; however, once I became more
involved I began to learn about
the incredible resources available
to companies of all sizes. Debbie
Moreno, CEO of the Chamber and
her staff do an amazing job of
coordinating resources, educational seminars, business counseling and networking through a vast

Y O U R

PROVIDED PHOTO

Tim Terrio
collection of volunteers. From the
Board of Directors to all committee chairs and committee members, business people from companies large and small have
stepped up to take leadership
positions to help the Chamber
pursue its mission and vision.
While everyone joins the
Chamber for a different reason, it
is crucial that one utilizes all that
the membership provides. As an
entrepreneur and small business

owner I realize our financial limitations, but also understand the
time needed to make a chamber
membership a great investment.
During this time of economic
struggle for our country, we constantly hear the politicians talk
about how to get people back to
work and how to get the economy
moving forward. What they have
forgotten is that we live in
America and a majority of us
believed in the American Dream
at one point in our lives. I believe
that the way out of this economic
malaise is to reignite the
American Dream, and that can
only be done through the business
community. We need to continue
to create, innovate and teach
vocations.
I am honored to serve the
Bakersfield business community
as the Chairman of the Greater
Bakersfield Chamber of
Commerce and to work with the
amazing board members, committee chairs and staff to spark the
American Dream in Bakersfield
and ensure a healthy business
community. No matter what the
size of your company, get
involved in the many offerings of
the Chamber and let's make
Bakersfield better!
Tim Terrio (Founder/CEO TERRIO Physical Therapy &
Fitness Inc.) is the Greater
Bakersfield Chamber of
Commerce Chairman of the Board
for 2012.

S P O R T S

Star athlete displays
leadership on and
off the court

W

hat a fabulous month
February is. Not only
do we get to get
Patriotic by celebrating the presidents
birthdays but we also get to show
our loved ones how much we love
them with Valentine's day.
How great is that?
We also have an opportunity to
show love to our community by
coming to our Annual Make a
Blanket day through the local
chapter of Project Linus on
February 25 at Centennial High
School. We have come to a point
that is very critical in our chapter.
We are delivering approximately
500 blankets per month in the valley. Our surplus blankets are
almost gone and we are not going
to be able to supply blankets to
the organizations that we support.
My choice then becomes which
hospital, county facility or other
entity do we not deliver to. I don't
want to tell Jamison Center that
I can't deliver blankets there. I
don't want to not deliver blankets
to any of the children's hospitals

IF YOU GO
Project Linus
Community Make-A-Blanket
Day
Saturday, February 25
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Centennial High School
8601 Hageman Road
or to the sexual assault victims.
Recently, Greenlawn Mortuary
called and asked if they could
have a blanket for a family of a
two year old that had passed
away. They wanted something
special for the mother to lay her
son on and then give to her after
the services. How do I tell them,
“No”
I see the value of the blanket
everyday when my 10-year-old
runs around the house acting like
batman — or when he is snuggled
up in front of the television at
night.
As a community would you like
to join with Project Linus to help
serve the special needs of children in our area?
Here is how you can help:

• Karen Loucks started Project Linus on December 24,
1995.

(the year we started keeping records!), we have delivered
19,693 blankets!

• The Bakersfield Kern County Chapter began in November
2005 and added Fresno in 2009.
• Project Linus nationally has been alive for 5,847 days as
of January 1, 2012.

• If each blanket is an average of 60" long, and we laid
them end to end, they would stretch 20,1126,485 feet or
3,812 miles. That is as tall as 693 Mt. Everests, or 13,842
Willis Towers (formerly the Sears Tower) or 16,101 Empire
State Buildings or as long as 67,088 football fields!

• Project Linus National has had nonprofit status since May
12, 1997.

• Assuming each delivered blanket so far had a label, the
cost for labels would be $120,78.91.

• Project Linus nationally has officially collected 4,025,297
blankets as of September 30, 2010. If 60 percent of them
are fabric, that translates into about 7,245,535 yards of
fabric. If 40 percent are afghans, that’s about 12,880,950
skeins of yarn.

• As of January 1, 2012, Project Linus has 368 chapters in
the United States. We have 368 wonderful, compassionate
coordinators.

Y O U R

J

• Bring fabric/materials/scissors and help us make blankets.
• You may bring handmade
completed blankets ready to
donate.
• Fabric (1 1/2 yard lengths)
batting and yarn may be donated
(flannel, cotton and fleece are
accepted).
• NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY — any help is appreciated.
• Project Linus welcomes all
styles of blankets — crocheted,
knitted, quilted, fleece.
• Blankets are for infants
through teen years, so any size is
appropriate.
All donations benefit the
Bakersfield, Kern County Chapter
of Project Linus. Each chapter of
Project Linus is self-sustaining
and we rely on donations to help
us provide for children in our
community. Our local chapter is
donating approximately 500 blankets per month to children in crisis situations in the local area.
For more information contact
Michele Willis, Project Linus
Bakersfield Chapter Coordinator
at: quilts4kidz@sbcglobal.net or
call: 589-1854. On the web at:
www.projectlinusbakersfield.org.

NOMINATE BY ANTHONY RUCKER SR.
ulius A.J. Rucker is a 14-year-old Bakersfield
High School freshman and is The Bakersfield
Voice’s star athlete of the month. Julius has participated in numerous basketball leagues
throughout the city and abroad, such as: Young
Champions, Better Basketball Development League,
Boys and Girls Club, YMCA Summer Basketball,
National Junior Basketball (NJB), Police Activity
League (PAL), Gladiators, Prodigy Elite, Bakersfield
United, and CAVS Youth Basketball AAU ( under
the direction of coach Darryl McDonold).
During his basketball career, Julius has led these
teams to championships, undefeated seasons, and
first place All-Star Tournaments.
Julius dreams of one day going to a university and
majoring in communication to become a sports
announcer. He spends his free time reading about
the history of early to recent basketball players such
as, Pistol Pete, Bill Russel, Blake Griffin, and Derrik
Rose. Basketball is the defensive force that drives
him to succeed and we are proud of him displaying
leadership on and off the court.
Do you have a son, daughter, grandkid or buddy

thinking? Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele
Bundchen, was less than complimentary
towards her husband’s receiving corps
after the game. As she walked to the elevators after the game some Giants’ fans
heckled the sleek one to the tunes of “Eli
Rules!” and “Eli rules your husband!”
Her response in the heat of the moment
was to forward the blame to the New
England pass catchers, of whom she
apparently believed were not pass catchers. “They did not catch the ball when
they were supposed to catch the ball. My
husband cannot ... control the ball and
catch the ball at the same time. I can’t
believe they dropped the ball so many
times,” she said. Boy, you coulda fooled
me. I thought all along that Brady could
actually walk on water AND catch his own
passes. Leastwise the New England media
would have you believe so. Guess I was
wrong — Brady can only walk on water!
And in actuality, his wife was the one who
dropped the ball in this instance.

• If each of our 368 wonderful compassionate coordinators
donates an average of 20 hours per week to their chapter,
that would mean about 1,040 hours per year each. And
that's just coordinators!

S P O R T S

Local power lifter wins second world title
COURTESY OF WWW.MYBAKERSFIELDSPORTS.COM
dward Dudley-Robey of Bakersfield
won the International Powerlifting
League (IPL) world championship in
the multi-ply bench press competition recently at the Golden Nugget in
Las Vegas. The IPL world championships
included competitors ranging from Canada
to Nigeria. Dudley-Robey started the day
with a good opening lift of 424.2 pounds
(192.5 kilograms), but missed two world
record attempts at 525 pounds (238.6 kg).
Dudley-Robey not only has won two
world championships in two weight classes
(165, 181 pounds), but is also a three-time
California state champion, a five-time member of Team USA, and a 25-time record
holder in the bench press with state, national and international records to his credit.

E
PHOTO PROVIDED

Julius A.J. Ricker
who is your pick for MVP? Nominate them for The
Bakersfield Voice's "Star Athlete.” Go to www.bakersfieldvoice.com and nominate your STAR today!

Edward “Doctor
Bench” DudleyRobey, M.D. won the
International
Powerlifting League
(IPL) world championship in the multiply bench press
competition at the
Golden Nugget in
Las Vegas.
PHOTO PROVIDED

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